Dying of the Light
by hottie12oclock
Summary: Set during Eclipse. After Bella is severely injured in an accident, Edward contemplates his options.
1. Chapter 1: Better off Dead

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and parts are taken verbatim from the novel for plot purposes.

Setting: during Eclipse, when Bella escapes from Alice to hang out with Jake.

**Bella**

"Did you mean what you said before, Bella? About him turning you…" Jake stopped, too disgusted to finish the question. I nodded slightly after a moment, and his shaking intensified.

"Calm down, Jake. You knew it was coming," I whispered. He struggled, grimacing against the urge to shift. I waited, trying to be very careful. I was already in enough trouble with Alice and Edward for playing Prison Break this afternoon, and I didn't need a trip to the ER to set them off more. After a long moment, the trembling lessened.

"How long?" he managed to choke out. "We have a few years at least, right?"

"Not quite. More like til graduation." This began a whole new wave of tremors. Jacob sprang up, the unfinished soda crushed in his fist. I was too startled to care that my hair was now dripping coke. He clenched his jaw so tightly that the muscles bulged from his cheeks, shut his eyes in concentration. Despite the security I always felt with my best friend, he was coming dangerously close to scaring me – I could see his human form slipping away – yet I couldn't make my legs obey me, to back away from the potential disaster.

Groaning, he slowly regained control. He panted from the effort and I could see that any wrong move now would mean an eternity of looking like Emily. I didn't want to do that to Jacob, to put him through what Sam faced daily. Not to mention the scars that I would have to explain….

"Weeks?" he hissed.

"Of course Jake, " I whispered after a long minute of silence. "He's seventeen, Jacob. And I get closer to nineteen every day. Besides, what's the point in waiting? He's all I want. What else can I do?"

I'd meant that as a rhetorical question.

His words cracked the snaps of a whip. "Anything. Anything else. You'd be better off dead. I'd rather you were."

I recoiled like he'd slapped me. It hurt worse than if he had.

And then, as the pain shot through me, my own temper burst into flame.

"Maybe you'll get lucky," I said bleakly, lurching to my feet. "Maybe I'll get hit by a truck on my way back."

He didn't move or say anything as I hastily towed my motorcycle from the shelter of his garage and into the downpour. I jammed it into gear and sped furiously into the night.

**Alice**

He was really, really pissed. And I was really, really hoping that he wouldn't take away my new toy.

"Look, Edward," I tried to reason, "This kid's obviously really important to Bella. You can't control her like this – as a human, she needs someone other than you there for her. Jake was there for her when – " I stopped. Nobody ever really mentioned our disappearance last year in front of Edward, not after the scars it had left on both Bella and my brother. Finally, he sighed.

Wow. I wasn't expecting to be so easy. The hand that pinched the bridge of his nose dropped to his side, and a resigned look replaced his previously furious façade.

"You're right. I just hate taking that chance... I can't lose her Alice, and it drives me insane to be away from her. Especially when she's blind to us." He grimaced. "I've been a bad boyfriend, huh?"

I grinned wickedly. "Well, I won't say that I haven't enjoyed holding Bella hostage. It's really quite fun, you know. These human – " Just then, a vision overtook me. I gasped, and Edward was out the door before I had opened my eyes. I knew he had seen in my thoughts what took too long to say out loud….

"Bella."


	2. Chapter 2: Crash

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and parts are taken verbatim from the novel for plot purposes.

Setting: during Eclipse, when Bella escapes from Alice to hang out with Jake.

**Bella**

Angry tears mixed with the rain that pelted my face as I twisted recklessly through the forest. Although the trees overhead sheltered this part of the highway slightly, I was still drenched. I'd probably care if the small hole in my chest wasn't incapacitating my breathing. This hole wasn't the large, gaping, life-threatening crater that Edward's absence had created, but it was enough to hurt. My best friend would rather attend my funeral than live a single day with me as an immortal. In my mind, I replayed Jacob's last blow. Did our friendship really mean so little? I wouldn't let my mind answer that question.

The headlight on my bike illuminated a 15 MPH sign, a warning for the sharpest turn in the road between Forks and La Push. I ignored it, and instead kicked my bike into a higher gear. The wheels lost their grip on the saturated pavement as I took the curve, and the bike skidded sideways.

My heard jumped, and I immediately reprimanded that brainless decision. My mouth set a hard line. I may no longer have my werewolf, but at least I still had my vampire to come home to. My undoubtedly _very_ angry vampire, I reminded myself. I approached the next curve with significantly more caution, glancing down at the speedometer to check the more reasonable 25 MPH. Looking back up, I was blinded.

And then I could no longer feel the motorcycle's hum beneath me.

I heard a deafening crash about the same time I felt my body hit a cold, hard surface. Then I went numb, every nerve in my body doused. The light had flared even brighter for a second, then that too extinguished. The strangest sensation engulfed me, as if I was flying – no, it was like cliff diving. Exhilarating. Free…until my body hit yet another hard surface. I frowned. I would rather still be cliff diving, than here – where exactly was here? I tried to move my arms, to push away from whatever wet, hard thing I was against. They wouldn't move. Huh. Legs? No luck there, either. I attempted to peel my eyelids back in vain. They, like the rest of my body, refused my mind's command. I smelled rainy asphalt, very strongly. And something else…rusty and metallic. Couldn't place it, but I didn't like it. It burned my nose and made my head swim more than it already was. This was surely a dream, one of those nightmares where you desperately tried to run or scream, and you just couldn't. I hated those.

Suddenly, my vision cleared. Out of the darkness, I was able to make out some sideways trees, a car entangled within them. That's a new one – I've had tons of dreams of forests, but they always grew properly, not parallel to the ground…or where the ground _should _have been. Then I understood. _I _was on the ground, apparently. The scene faded out, and my ears rang. Someone screamed, and that seemed to break through my body's numbness.

This was definitely not a dream. Or death. There was too much pain. A moan, scream, anything that was sure to burst from my throat wouldn't come. Oh, God, the pain…make it stop. The agony was overpowering, worse than anything I've ever been through. Worse than James. Worse than drowning. What I wouldn't do to be drowning instead of this! A thousand swords stabbed me through and through. My stomach heaved, causing a stab in my chest. It hurt to breathe. Oh, please, just let me die soon! What the hell happened? Why did I deserve this? I racked my memory for any clues as to why I was laying in the middle of the street…

The scream. Someone's scream. The street I had just been driving on, then a bright light…I faded into unconsciousness.

Seconds later, my vision cleared again. There was some wailing in the distance. I willed it to stop. My head pounded with such intensity that I was sure it would explode any second. If I was going to die, let me be in peace. Again, the steaming car and slick pavement disappeared. A flood of sounds ambushed my sensitive ears. More screaming. Yelling. That wailing – sirens, I guessed. The thud of heavy boots against the pavement that held me captive. Funny, I thought, how keen my senses were and how aware my mind was. I was pretty sure I was bouncing back and forth between conscious states, but my mind worked more clearly at the moment than it did normally. I still wasn't sure what had happened to me, but it wasn't the first time. I was a magnet for trouble, I admitted deliriously. Blackness again.

"Oh, my God! Is she dead?"

"Somebody get her out of here!"

"Back away, please."

"BELLA!" One voice stood out above the rest. I knew that voice, my angel, here to rescue me yet again. I tried unsuccessfully to cry out, to answer Edward's cry. Cool hands gently caressed my face, and at that moment my pain was forgotten. Whatever had happened to me was okay now. My lifeline, the one thing that I lived for, was here.

**Edward **

I flew through the forest, trying to banish the terrible scene that refused to leave my mind. Directly from Alice's vision – Bella, my love, lying crumpled on the street. NO, I sternly pushed the image from my thoughts. Alice had a vision of something that had not yet happened, it _couldn't _have happened yet, and I would do everything in my power to prevent this disaster. This particular bend in the highway outside of La Push should be west from here, and I drove my legs even faster. Nothing would keep me from reaching her as quickly as my body could allow.

My sensitive ears registered the sirens of an ambulance, cop car, and fire truck miles from their destination. Grimly I forced myself to accept what I did not want to: it was _our _destination. But it was not too late. It couldn't be too late. Carlisle was an exceptional physician, and whatever trouble Bella had gotten herself into this time could be easily righted under his skillful hands. I would pick her from the street and run with her to the hospital, or even to the house. She _would _be alright. What the hell had happened? Why in God's name was she in the street, why had she been at La Push?

My fault. All my fault. If I hadn't been so damn psychotic about keeping her from that dangerous mutt…

At that moment I burst through the trees and into the scene of the accident. In half of a second, I registered the steaming, broken car sandwiched between two pines. I registered the sticky, sweet smell of human blood. I registered the bent and irreparable red motorcycle that had found its final resting place on the other side of the road barrier amongst the ferns, some thirty feet from what must have been the site of impact. Then, I saw _her._

Bella, my Bella, just as Alice had seen. Fury, agony, despair, anxiety all swept through me as I pushed past the officer in his attempt to restrain me and knelt at her head. Afraid of hurting her in any way, I gently smoothed my palms over her cheek. Blood stained half of her beautiful face. I ignored the authorities that tugged at my arms, ignored the paramedic that worked furiously over her. I shut out everyone else's mind, and concentrated on the slow beat of her heart and the frail, labored breaths that expanded her lungs slightly. I could feel my body shaking, and I knew that if it were possible, I'd be sobbing. My Bella, crushed and fighting for her life yet again because of my stupidity. Pure hatred for myself seeped, unforgiving, throughout my body.

"We're going to have to move her," someone behind me suggested. I saw from the corner of my eye a stretcher two men laid at Bella's side. My head snapped up.

"You - will - _not_ – touch - her," I growled slowly, menacingly. The medics faltered at once, and I knew I was coming dangerously close to exposing my true self. I would tear each of them apart if they even laid a finger on my love. I glared, my stare saturated with threat, for a long moment.

"Son, I realize you're upset, but if she's going to have a chance, she needs immediate attention. Now step back and let us get her into the ambulance." This man spoke with authority, braver than the rest of the medics. I didn't like the way he spoke to me, and definitely did not care for what he suggested. A growl began in my chest, my hands clenched into fists. The man met my stare, his mouth set determinedly. "I'm here to save her. That may not be possible if we wait any longer." These words broke through my rage.

Bella could die. And here I was, weighing the odds towards that outcome. Idiot. I finally regained my self-control, deciding that it was in Bella's best interest, and mine, to follow this man's instruction.


	3. Chapter 3: Hospital

**Jacob**

I burst through the doors of the hospital ER, having just phased in the safety of a shadow. I took the fastest route to get here, and that didn't involve cars or being human. I ignored all the strange looks from the waiting area, all the people goggling at my oversized, half-dressed body. My mind was absolutely frantic. I was absolutely hating myself. Stupid, stupid, stupid Jake! The last thing I'd said to the love of my life was the one thing I'd give anything, _anything_ to take back. _Could end up being the last thing I'd ever say to her_, I thought and then choked.

I jogged through the few halls of the hospital, easily slipping past the angry nurses, coming up short when I spied the bloodsucker family and Charlie gathered around a window. First thought: man, they all looked bad – my eyes flicked to Edward who spared one glance at me. In his eyes, I saw such an incredible degree of pain and indecision that I started. Second thought: the one thing that could possibly torture him to that extent was… Bella.

The second my mind processed that thought, I was at the window they all were so intent on watching. And what I saw almost made me wish I was dead. No, I wished I was the one in that bed. I wished that it could be me in her place, and Bella was at home safe with Charlie. Hell, I wouldn't even mind if she was with her parasite boyfriend. Just anywhere but here, looking like anything but this.

Two long gashes across her forehead had been stitched up; dark purple bruises stood out beneath her eyes, affects of her broken nose that was all taped. It looked as if her entire torso were bound, as well as her left leg. The thing was completely encased in plaster. Charlie had just now, well, fifteen minutes ago, called down to Billy to let me know that Bella was…in an accident. And already they had her in casts and everything; this must have happened a few hours ago, and I _was just now finding out_. I was filled with immediate rage towards everyone in the hospital. I glared at Edward, at Charlie, at the whole group – fighting the shaking that was rocking my body. Sure, the bloodsuckers could know, but just let the best friend know whenever. He was probably _hoping _for her to "die" so he could bite her and damn her forever. Again, my last words to Bella played in my mind…

Edward's head snapped up. The agony that had shrouded them before was concealed by a new emotion, a fiery and almost frightening – anger, was it? I glared back. No, it was pure fury.

"A _moment_, Jacob?" He hissed and stalked out of one of the doors. I rolled my eyes and followed, patting Charlie's shoulder on my way by. He looked up suspiciously but I waved off his concern. If the bloodsucker wanted a fight, he would get one. I would fight for Bella's life in more ways than one.

As soon as we reached the shadows of the side lawn, the parasite spun to face me. I crouched slightly, preparing to phase if the need came, but he remained upright.

"You said _what_ to Bella?" So it would be words, then.

"It's none of your business what Bella and I talk about."

"To hell if it isn't, _mutt!_"

"Well, you're already headed there, so I guess I'm right either way!"

"You're _right?! _You were right in telling her SHE WOULD BE BETTER OFF _DEAD_?! YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO EVEN WALK THROUGH THAT DOOR – "

"MAYBE SHE WOULD BE, MAYBE SHE WOULDN'T! BUT THE ONLY WAY SHE'D BE BETTER OFF _LIVING_ IS IF SHE WAS WITH _ME_!" I retorted, my anger building to match his. I was shaking uncontrollably now, wanting to rip his throat out –

"Do it, then! Rip me apart. I'll beg you to if she doesn't make it. And right now it looks as if your wishes might come true. _All _of them." The dude's voice broke at the end, and suddenly I didn't care about our fight anymore. My trembling abruptly stopped.

"But – but, she has to be somewhat stable, at least, if they put all that stuff on her, and the doctors are leaving her alone, right?" I hated how pitiful I sounded, how I was practically begging the demon for information. But that was insignificant compared to my need of Bella.

It took him a minute to answer. He was so still, staring at the ground, that I wondered if he was alive himself still – I snorted. A vampire. _Alive_.

"Yes. I suppose you could say her condition is somewhat stable. Carlisle has done all he can." Then he looked up, and the fury was gone from his eyes. They were empty of all emotion, except for an incinerating agony that ripped at my heart more than anything had so far…

"She's stable. But comatose."

**Alice**

He wasn't handling this well at all. Neither was I. But compared to Edward, the rest of us, including Renee and Charlie, were remotely calm.

Three broken ribs, a crushed left femur and tibia, a fractured collar bone, and several hairline fractures in her skull, Bella lay unresponsive. Coma, Carlisle said: severe head trauma to the frontal and occipital, minimal damage to the temporal. That werewolf boy – Jake – paced incessantly, watching both Bella and Edward closely. As if he were going to bite her any minute. Renee and Charlie also refused to leave the hospital, and Edward, of course, never moved from the window through which Bella was visible. ICU didn't permit visitors, even to Carlisle's family. So much for family connections.

Poor Bella. Poor Edward. I remembered the police's interrogation of the other involved party; I thanked whatever god was out there that Edward hadn't been present. The couple, both intoxicated well beyond the legal limit, were too drunk to see Bella on her motorcycle or react in time to avoid collision. Both had walked away with minor injuries, but were now being held in the Forks jail until further notice. _Minor injuries_, I thought disgustedly. _They_ were the ones who deserved to be here.

It took incredible self-control from all the members of my family to not seek the two low-lives out and handle their trial ourselves. Especially from Edward, and Emmet was not far behind. I clenched my jaw at the thought; I wouldn't mind serving them justice, either. Drunk. And out of control. That was the reason the girl I'd come to think of as my sister was now lying on a stiff bed, attached to a myriad of machinery, fighting for her life. That was the reason my dearest brother and friend was making new plans for his death if Bella didn't pull through. I fought back the contagious tremors that had rocked Edward for hours now. She _had _to make it. Life for Edward just wouldn't be worth living without her, and there was no way I was going to lose a sister, either.


	4. Chapter 4: Coma

**Bella**

I was lost. I wandered, for endless days, hours, minutes, through the forest. There was no fear anymore, no werewolves or vampires lurking in the shadows. I recalled the scene from dreams passed, but this didn't seem like a dream, however. Firstly, I couldn't seem to stir or wake up. Secondly, there was no cold, hard Edward lying next to me. I didn't even wonder, however, why I was venturing aimlessly through the woods nor what odd state my body was in. No, it wasn't a dream, but I didn't think I was awake…

**Edward**

It's been a week. Nothing. Bella is now allowed visitors and I haven't once released my grasp on her hand. Because releasing her hand would mean to lose my grasp on reality, my grasp on hope, my grasp on to my love.

There she lies, unmoving and unresponsive.

"In situations such as Bella's," Carlisle had explained, stumbling over Bella's name slightly. We all did lately. "It is quite common for the mind to shut down, to self-induce a coma in order to focus reparation on the severely injured areas of the body. In truth, with the extent of her injuries, we would have most likely induced a coma in absence of a natural one. Head trauma also contributes to this state. We will be watching closely, however, monitoring all her fluids for complications of any kind."

I clenched my free fist, fighting the tearless sobs that shook me constantly. The monsters that were responsible for this would pay, severely. I would hire the most impressive lawyer available. The criminals _would _be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and however further our assets could push their sentence. The day of their trial would be satisfying indeed. The only thing I knew for certain, however, was that there was no way I was going to exist without my Bella. I would be begging Jacob to fulfill his wishes of my obliteration. And if he didn't succeed, the Volturi were no doubt up for another go.

_No_, I contradicted. Bella would wake up. She would recover fully. And everything would be fine.

I completely blocked all thoughts, mostly in fear of Carlisle's contradiction to my positive hopes.

**Alice**

His eyes were completely dead. Even before – Bella – it hurt to think the name - he was more animated and healthy. But I wouldn't wish even for a second that he hadn't met her. That _we_ hadn't met her. She plays such a huge role in Edward's happiness – well, basically the complete role – and even in (I gulped, unnecessarily swallowing to force a lump from my throat) the worst case scenario, I would be at least happy for the little time we did have. It wasn't enough, only an eternity would have been satisfactory, but those few years with Bella has made such an impact on my entire family that we could only walk away with a gain.

Edward jumped up, startling me. I was nestled in the corner, spending time with Bella while still giving Edward the space he wanted.

"_Stop _thinking so negatively! Bella _will _pull through. She'll wake up _any day now_, and the least you could do is think positively, even if it's to humor me!" The venom in his voice took me by surprise, but I was instantly regretful. I tore my eyes from his, because I couldn't bear to witness the pain and torture in them. The half-hearted hope.

It had been a week now, and it was still impossible for me to spy into Bella's future. Her mind was blank and certainly wasn't under voluntary control, and therefore created to visions for me to see. It was quite frustrating and this damn headache never went away. It was especially heartbreaking when I had first started trying, seeing Edward glance up hopefully every few minutes, only to be disappointed. I tried again, focusing on Bella and anything that might hint at her awakening…

Nothing. I sighed, and finally gave up.

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Sorry guys, kinda a short chapter. Hope you enjoyed it all the same! I will update asap.


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